1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator that is capable of uniformly and quickly supplying cooling air into a storage space of a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, in order to keep foodstuffs in a fresh state for a long period in a refrigerator, it is requisite to uniformly maintain the internal temperature of a freezing chamber and a cooling chamber. For this purpose, a cooling air discharge hole is formed at a door side of the refrigerator, thereby changing a cooling air passage.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a state that a door of the refrigerator is opened in accordance with a conventional art, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line xe2x80x98Axe2x80x94Axe2x80x99 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a vertical-sectional view showing a cooling air passage of the refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art.
The conventional refrigerator includes an outer case 102 forming an outward appearance of a refrigerator, an inner case 104 forming a storage chamber (S) for storing foodstuffs, a door 106 disposed to be opened and closed at the opened front side of the inner case 104, a freezing system (not shown) disposed at one side of the inner case 104, for cooling air inside the storage chamber (S), and a cooling air passage for supplying cooling air generated by the freezing system to the storage chamber (S).
The inner case 104 forms the storage chamber (S) for storing foodstuffs, in which the storage space is partitioned in the horizontal direction to install shelves 108 for receiving foodstuffs, and an enlarged portion 112 is formed enlarged slantingly in the circumferential direction of the opened portion of the inner case 104.
The door 106 is made of an insulating material to prevent heat exchange with outside, forms the storage chamber (S) together with the inner case 104.
At the inner marginal circumference, a gasket 114 made of rubber is installed to prevent cooling air leakage by covering the storage chamber (S) when the door 106 is closed.
A door liner 116 to be inserted into the enlarged portion 11 is protruded at the inner circumference of the gasket 114. A door basket 118 is inserted in the door liner 116, and is utilized as a space for receiving foodstuffs.
When the door 106 is closed, the door liner 116 is inserted into the enlarged portion 112, and at this time, an interval xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 is formed between the door liner 116 and the enlarged portion 11.
The freezing system includes a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube, an evaporator 120 and a ventilating fan 122, and so forth, so that while passing the compressor, the condenser and the capillary tube, a coolant becomes a two-phase state in a mixture of a liquid and a gas and sucked into the evaporator 120.
And then, as the coolant passes the evaporator, it is completely evaporated, taking heat around it.
Thanks to the evaporation action of the coolant, the air around the evaporator is cooled and supplied through the cooling air passage to the storage chamber by the ventilating fan 122.
The cooling air passage includes a cooling air discharge duct 124 installed in the vertical direction at the rear side of the inner case 112, for supplying cooling air; a plurality of cooling air discharge holes 126 formed in the longitudinal direction of the cooling air discharge duct 124, for supplying cooling air to every storage space partitioned by the shelves 108; and a suction duct 128 installed at an the upper side of the storage chamber (S), through which air circulated the storage chamber and completed a cooling action flows toward the evaporator 120.
As stated above, in the conventional refrigerator, when the freezing system is driven, the air inside the storage chamber (S) is cooled while passing the evaporator according to rotation of the ventilating fan 122, and the cooled air flows to the discharge duct 124 and is discharged through each cooling discharge hole 126 into the storage chamber.
At this time, speaking of the cooling air flow, a cooled air flows from the upper portion of the storage space where the cooling air discharge hole 126 is installed to the lower portion and warm air at the lower portion goes up to the empty space where the cooled air has existed, thereby forming a convection current.
That is, the cooling air discharged through the cooling air discharge hole 126 maintains foodstuff at a lower temperature in the storage chamber by the convection current within the storage space, and flows into the evaporator 120 through the suction duct 128.
However, as for the cooling air passage of the refrigerator of the conventional art, since the cooling air discharge hole is formed at the rear side of the cooling chamber, cooling air is concentrated to the rear side and the central portion of the cooling chamber in the vicinity of the cooling air discharge hole. Thus, foodstuffs near the cooling air discharge hole receives much cooling air and over-cooled, while foodstuffs kept near the door, far from the cooling air discharge hole less affected by the cooling air relatively and weakly cooled.
Namely, the internal temperature of the storage chamber has a big deviation according to the distance from the cooling air discharge hole, causing a problem that the temperature distribution of the storage chamber is not uniform.
In addition, in the summer season where the refrigerator is frequently opened, it is difficult to quickly cope with a rise in temperature as the refrigerator door is opened and closed.
Besides, the cooling air directing toward the door is partly introduced into a space between the door liner and the enlarged portion, contacting around the gasket. At this time, since the gasket is made of rubber, a thermal insulation efficiency is not good between the inner side and the outer side of the storage chamber. Then, air around the gasket is changed to a high-temperature air, having a bad influence to the cooling inside the storage chamber.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator that is capable of uniformly maintaining a temperature distribution of a storage chamber by improving a cooling air passage in such a manner that cooling air can be evenly and quickly supplied to every part of the storage chamber, and capable of quickly cooling a load when the load is inputted into the storage chamber.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator that is capable of increasing a heat efficiency by preventing a cooling air loss occurring near a refrigerator door and capable of preventing a weak cooling of foodstuffs stored near the refrigerator door.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator that is capable of widely obtaining a storage space in a storage chamber.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator including: a left cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the left side of the opened marginal portion of an inner case forming a storage chamber, and discharging cooling air from the left side of the storage chamber toward a refrigerator door; a right cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the right side of the opened marginal portion of the inner case, and discharging cooling air from the right side of the storage chamber toward the refrigerator door; a ventilating unit for ventilating cooling air generated from a freezing system to the storage chamber; and a diverging unit for diverging and guiding cooling air ventilated by the ventilating unit to the left cooling air duct and the right cooling air duct.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the left cooling air duct is formed at a left enlarged portion of the inner case to guide cooling air in the vertical direction, and includes a first duct cover mounted at one side thereof, the first duct cover having a plurality of first cooling air discharge holes for discharging cooling air from the left side of the storage chamber.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the right cooling air duct is formed at a right enlarged portion of the inner case to guide cooling air in the vertical direction, and includes a second duct cover mounted at one side thereof, the second duct cover having a plurality of second cooling air discharge holes for discharging cooling air from the right side of the storage chamber.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the first and the second duct covers are formed with their section bent at a right angle, and protrusively formed with a certain width at the enlarged portion of the inner case to block a space between the door liner and the enlarged portion of the inner case.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the first and the second duct covers are formed in a square form protruded with a certain width from the left side and the right side of the inner case in the inward direction, the protruded one side blocks the space between the door liner and the enlarged portion of the inner case, and the plurality of cooling air discharge holes are formed in the longitudinal direction.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the diverging unit is formed at the upper inner side of the inner case, and includes a supply passage through which cooling air flows in from the freezing system, a left diverging passage connected between the supply passage and the left cooling air duct and supplying cooling air to the left cooling air duct, and a right diverging passage connected between the supply passage and the right cooling air duct and supplying cooling air to the right cooling air duct.
To achieve the above objects, there is further provided a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator including: a left cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the left side of the opened marginal portion of an inner case forming a storage chamber, and discharging cooling air from the left side of the storage chamber toward a refrigerator door; a right cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the right side of the opened marginal portion of the inner case, and discharging cooling air from the right side of the storage chamber toward the refrigerator door; a door cooling air duct installed at the refrigerator door, for receiving cooling air from the left cooling air duct or the right cooling air duct and discharging the cooling air toward the refrigerator door; a ventilating unit for ventilating cooling air generated from a freezing system to the storage chamber; and a diverging unit for diverging and guiding cooling air ventilated by the ventilating unit to the left cooling air duct and the right cooling air duct.
The cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention further includes a switching valve installed between the right cooling air duct and the door cooling air duct, for switching on or off cooling air flow from the right cooling air duct to the door cooling air duct.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, a discharge passage for supplying cooling air to the door cooling air duct is formed at either the left cooling air duct or the right cooling air duct.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the door cooling air duct is installed in the horizontal direction at one side of the refrigerator door, a plurality of fourth cooling air discharge holes are formed to discharge cooling air in the longitudinal direction therof, and a supply passage is formed at one side thereof, being connected to the discharge passage formed at the right cooling air duct.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the switching valve includes: a rotational rod rotatably hinged at the lower side of the discharge passage of the right cooling air duct; a switching shutter mounted at one side of the rotational rod, being rotated together with the rotational road to open and close the discharge passage; and a switching handle mounted at the end portion of the rotational rod, for rotating the rotational rod so that a user may open or close the discharge passage.
In the cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention, the switching shutter is in a disk form having a diameter larger than that of the discharge passage.
The cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator of the present invention further includes: a suction duct installed at both sides of the rear sides of the left and right cooling air ducts of the inner case and having a plurality of cooling air suction holes for sucking cooling air by each space; and a barrier having a cooling air suction passage for moving cooling air of the storage chamber sucked through the suction duct toward an evaporation chamber.
To achieve the above objects, there is further provided a cooling air passage apparatus of a refrigerator including: a left cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the left side of the opened marginal portion of an inner case forming a storage chamber, and discharging cooling air from the left side of the storage chamber toward a refrigerator door; a right cooling air duct installed having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes in the vertical direction at the right side of the opened marginal portion of the inner case, and discharging cooling air from the right side of the storage chamber toward the refrigerator door; a door cooling air duct installed at the refrigerator door, for receiving cooling air from the left cooling air duct or the right cooling air duct and discharging the cooling air toward the refrigerator door; a rear cooling air duct installed at the rear side of the inner case, having a plurality of cooling air discharge holes and discharging cooling air from the rear side of the storage chamber toward the door; a ventilating unit for ventilating cooling air generated from a freezing system to the storage chamber; and a diverging unit for diverging and guiding cooling air ventilated by the ventilating unit to the left cooling air duct and the right cooling air duct.